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El Gueguense

Sunday, January 17, I celebrated my 56th birthday and on this day the Feast of San Sebastian begins in Diriamba, Nicaragua. During the feast, the satirical drama, The Güegüense or the Dance of the Macho Raton will be performed.

This story has been recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity for it depicts the plight of the natives after the Spaniards arrived. It is very important that we keep the cultural folktales of our native countries alive and help our children and grandchildren to know and understand these traditional tales. When El Güegüense o la Danza del Macho Raton was selected for this honor by UNESCO, it was stated,

“Despite its popularity, El Güegüense is in danger of declining, and possibly disappearing, owing to several factors: the country’s severe economic crises, insufficient national and local support for performers… In addition, many of those who are very active in transmitting their knowledge to future generations are already between 60 and 70 years of age.”

Indeed, the Güegüense has been compared to Shakespeare’s Falstaff from Henry IV and plays an important part in the history of Latinos everywhere, as it depicts the literary talents of the natives who lived here and their ability to use many different literary styles to depict a historical clash of two cultures that eventually learned to peacefully coexist. Certainly, there are many lessons to be learned from this tale and the beauty of preserving the art of our ancestors is one that all of us should be committing to.

If you would like to be in a drawing for this most beautiful work of art, please send me a PM and let me know if you are interested in the English or the Spanish version of the tale, both of which are available on Amazon as ebooks.